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Clegg urged Hunt to refer to adviser

Clegg told the culture secretary that the public row over his relationship with BSkyB was detrimental (Rex)

NICK Clegg personally urged Jeremy Hunt to refer himself to the adviser on the
ministerial code in order to avoid further damage to the government’s
reputation during the build up to the vote on the minister's future.

Clegg told the culture secretary that the public row over his relationship
with BSkyB was detrimental and needed to be resolved.

But Hunt declined to take the advice leaving the deputy prime minister unable
to support his coalition allies in the Commons vote, which lead to some
senior Tories calling Clegg a "traitor".

Labour’s motion that Hunt had breached the ministerial code, was defeated by
290 votes to 252, but tensions in the coalition mounted due to Liberal
Democrat abstention and the row over the shamed culture secretary.

Speaker John Bercow allowed Labour to accuse Hunt of lying to MPs over his
handling of Rupert Murdoch's takeover bid for BSkyB and critics of